Superfan becomes super Saint, too

Holy Cross College freshman becomes its first mascot.

Holy Cross College freshman becomes its first mascot.

March 07, 2006|GENE STOWE Tribune Correspondent

For freshman David Wilkerson, Holy Cross College's first mascot, the college's athletes are anything but plaster Saints. Wilkerson figures his role is to inspire the team and scare the devil out of opponents. "I wanted to get away from the sissy church boy look," explains Wilkerson, who paints his face maroon and silver and dons a white robe topped with a maroon vestment featuring a shield inscribed Holy Cross Saints. "It's sort of crusader-ish, but it gives the Saints a little more of an edge. I wanted to give it some aggressiveness but stay true to the Saints." Wilkerson, from Jonesboro, Ga., was a defensive and offensive football lineman in high school. He was also on the wrestling and track teams. "In high school, for the sporting events I didn't play in, I would paint my face and go in and support my friends," he says. "I got to be known as the crazy fan." His friends on the Holy Cross club basketball team were on their way to a game last semester, but Wilkerson at first figured he should work on two big papers due the next day. "One of the players, Brandon Beck, told me that the team lacked a Superfan, and from my experience in high school that was an insult to me, because I always was like a Superfan," he says. "So I just had to go then because he said that." Tina Holland, the college's vice president for student affairs, noticed his spirit at the game. "She was there cheering along with me," Wilkerson says. "The game was on a Thursday, and the next Monday she called me into her office and decided to make me the mascot." When he went home for Christmas break, his mother, Mary Wilkerson, made the costume. She was used to patching pants and fashioning Halloween costumes for him over the years. "We bought the pattern. We bought the material. She made it in about a week," he says. "It's a white robe with a hood. Over that is a half-robe, and it's maroon. On the front it has a shield. It says Holy Cross Saints." Wilkerson is joined in supporting the teams by the college's first cheerleading crew. In addition to his cheerleading at athletic events, Wilkerson was featured on a poster for this semester's Spes Unica retreat, and he expects to represent the college in other ways. "Lacrosse is coming up," he says. "I might be used for recruitment days at Holy Cross." Wilkerson, who expects to become a teacher, says he was attracted to Holy Cross for its small size and transfer possibilities. "I wanted to go up North to college," says Wilkerson, who grew up in "Gone With the Wind" country and played football in Tara Stadium. "You can take classes at Saint Mary's. Even if I don't get into Notre Dame, I have a lot of opportunities because of the transfer program."